


concrete & salt •

by softpine



Series: camellia oneshots [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24878662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softpine/pseuds/softpine
Summary: “Hey, hey,whereis your coat?” Casper hears from behind.He turns around, his shoulders sagging. “Mom…No one else wears one, I look like a loser.”
Series: camellia oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800172
Kudos: 5





	concrete & salt •

“Hey, hey,  _ where  _ is your coat?” Casper hears from behind.

He turns around, his shoulders sagging. “ _ Mom _ … No one else wears one, I look like a loser.”

Mikaela shakes her head, tossing him a puffy, bright blue monstrosity with the biggest, fluffiest hood known to man. “You grew up in the sunshine, sugar, you’re not meant for the cold.”

Casper grumbles, but puts the coat on anyway. Mikaela gives him a satisfactory smile and nudges him towards the bus.

_ Motherfu _ — He forgot that was there.

Tom’s breath fogs up the glass, he’s pushed against it so closely. He pulls back and draws a heart in the steam, pointing wildly at Mikaela and waving when she finally shifts her attention to him. She rolls her eyes and waves back.

“Be good!” she calls out. “Keep your coat on!”

Casper huffs, stomping onto the bus. It jerks forward before he can sit down, sending him flying into the nearest aisle.

“Get off me, weirdo!” A girl screeches.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry, I —”

“Ugh,  _ whatever, _ just get away from me!”

He really,  _ really _ hates the bus.

“Yo, Cas, stop harassing the poor girl and get your ass over here.”

“I wasn’t harassing anyone,” he grumbles, but hurries over to Tom’s seat regardless. “Thanks for flirting with my mom, by the way. That’s so cool and fun for me to watch.”

“I call it like I see it,” Tom says. He’s crunching obnoxiously on a protein bar, peanuts cascading down his shirt and to the floor. “Want some?”

“Your half eaten protein bar? I’ll pass.”

“Your loss,” Tom says, his mouth full. “I’ll be all bulked up and you’ll be a skinny twig.”

Casper pulls a face. “You’ve looked in a mirror, right? Like, you’ve seen yourself?”

Eloquently, Tom opens his mouth and shows him the mushy brown sludge on his tongue. Casper squeezes his eyes shut and winces. “You’re fucking gross.”

Tom cackles, shoving the rest of his food in his mouth and chewing it with chipmunk cheeks. “ _ Arewoogoin’towinnerfor’al? _ ”

“What?”

Tom swallows. “I said, are you going to Winter Formal?”

Casper looks out the window, sighing. The bus chugs along, leaving muddy tracks in the pristine snow. The snowplow never comes this far out — Maybe that’s why the bus driver has such a vendetta against him? “Probably not.”

“Aw, come on, you gotta ask someone!”

“Who are you asking?”

“Who  _ aren’t _ I asking,” Tom says. “See, that’s the key. Never get your hopes up, never be disappointed.”

Casper shakes his head. “Good luck, man.”

“I’ll be your wingman,” Tom says. “What’s your type?”

Blushing, Casper says, “No, we’re not doing this. Besides, you’re a _ terrible  _ wingman. Remember when you told that girl I wet the bed ‘til I was twelve?”

“Yeah, because  _ I _ wanted to ask her out.”

“And how did that go for you?”

“... Shut up! Damn, I won’t help you, then.”

Casper crosses his arms smugly. Who cares if he goes to Winter Formal? He’s a little fish in a big pond, no one gives a shit. When he makes the football team, that’s when he’ll try harder to make friends. Football players are cool, right? They always are in the movies. They date cheerleaders and throw parties every weekend.

“Earth to Casper… Dude, we’re here.”

The massive clock tower atop the school clicks steadily forward. “Chill out,” he says. “Since when do you care about being on time?”

“I  _ don’t _ ,” Tom rolls his eyes. “But when else am I supposed to ask these girls out?”

Already regretting it, Casper says, “You know... Maybe I could use your help.”

Tom grins devilishly. “Aye aye, captain. Watch and learn.”

“I doubt it.”

Tom grabs Casper’s arm and pulls him towards the door. They file out after the last group of students and hop off into a snowbank, soaking Casper’s shoes straight through to his socks.  _ Of course.  _ Tom pays it no mind, already distracted by a group of girls huddling near the message boards at the front of the school.

“What about Emily?”

“She’s way too cool for you,” Casper answers.

“No, for you.”

“Isn’t she a cheerleader? I’m sure she already has a date.”

“No way to know unless you ask,” Tom winks, and then takes a bold step forward.

Almost instantly, his face goes pale and impassive. His feet scramble for purchase, but the icy sidewalk is unforgiving — he’s falling face-first onto the concrete. Casper barely stifles a laugh before Tom yanks on Casper’s arm and pulls him down too. The two of them land in a heap of bony elbows and flailing limbs and inhuman squealing.

“Ow!  _ Dick! _ Why’d you —” Casper scrambles to stand up, slipping comically on the ice and smacking his knee into Tom’s head.

“Don’t kick me, bitch!” Tom cries, holding onto Casper’s arm for dear life.

Casper crawls towards the snow-covered grass, dragging Tom behind him.  _ Skinny twig, my ass.  _ Tom is ninety-eight pounds of dead weight.

Finally on solid ground, Casper stands up and brushes at his clothes in a fruitless attempt at drying himself off. His coat, for all it’s puffiness, is useless when wet.

When he looks up, the group of girls — including Emily — are giggling into their hands and walking away from the scene.

“They don’t salt that sidewalk,” one of them yells behind her shoulder.

Tom flops back onto the snow, defeated.

Inside his pocket, Casper’s phone buzzes.

**_[ Mama:_ ** _ You forgot your snow boots!! ] _

**Author's Note:**

> you can visit softpine.tumblr.com if you're interested in these characters and want to see their full story! <3


End file.
